Chapter 134: 113, The Third Time the Plum Blossoms Open for Grand Ancestor of Song Dynasty, The Tragic Deceased Country Princess (7K Big Chapter, Requesting Monthly Tickets)
Words fall short in describing the vagaries of life.
Four years ago, she and Xu Xing shared a cell in prison, as wretched as wild grass.
Meanwhile, Princess Anren had a grand wedding costing 300,000 taels, with a ten-mile bridal procession.
Now, she sits in the vice seat in Yangxin Hall, as the Empress of the Founding Emperor Tiande, a mother to the world.
Yet Princess Anren has become a felon, humiliated and struggling to survive.
If time were to revert to the 21st year of Chongming, Zhao Yunniang would have found it hard to imagine that the lofty Princess Anren could fall to such a state. She was passed around like a plaything, little different from the prostitutes of the world, her fate beyond her own control...
"At ease!"
Xu Xing waved his hand. He scrutinized Song Miyao for a few moments. While she was a beauty, she didn’t quite possess the legendary, nation-toppling allure spoken of in the world. His expectations deflated considerably.
Perhaps her status as a princess added considerably to her perceived beauty, he mused.
"Princess Anren..." Xu Xing began, clearing his throat. "I killed your Royal Father and your two younger brothers, the Crown Prince and Prince Yong. Do you harbor any hatred for me in your heart?" he asked, composed and unhurried.
Some days ago, when he finalized his strategy and issued the decree, he had thought Li Yong and the others from the Army Seeking Revenge would kill Princess Anren outright as a sign of their submission to the Imperial Court. After all, capturing a living person and killing them directly were difficulties of entirely different orders. Besides, there ought to be a blood feud between him and Princess Anren. Logically, if Princess Anren knew she had been captured and was being sent before him, her great nemesis, anyone with a shred of dignity should have bitten off her tongue or dashed her head against something to end her life before entering the palace, to avoid falling into her enemy’s hands and suffering humiliation.
Given Princess Anren’s beauty... the chances of her remaining untouched were, one could only say, extremely low.
"Royal Father... was killed by the People, not by Your Majesty..." Song Miyao, standing inside the hall, felt her slender shoulders tremble slightly. She deliberately lowered her head so Xu Xing could not see her expression. "That day, Your Majesty told my Royal Father that if he could survive among the Starving People, Your Majesty would spare his life. Therefore, it was not Your Majesty who killed Royal Father, but... the People who killed him..."
"So... Anren harbors no hatred towards Your Majesty, nor dares to."
On her way here, she had already prepared her words for Xu Xing. Her reply now was logical and substantiated. This single conversation wouldn’t determine anything. Now that the great house of the Song Family had fallen, what could she, a mere woman, do...?
"For your grand wedding, Emperor Chongming spent 300,000 taels on your dowry. Because you liked Scholar Su’s poetry, he ordered Night Patrol Commander Liu Yan to go personally to the Sky Prison and have Scholar Su compose poems for you..."
"A ten-mile bridal procession, the profound love of your parents, the blood feud of your country and family..."
"And yet, you can forget all that and not resent me."
Xu Xing said this and shook his head. "In this world, the People and all the civil and military officials can criticize your Father Emperor’s wrongdoings, yet you, of all people, cannot..."
Princess Anren’s words, that she bore him no grudge, sounded pleasant enough. But such words were best just heard and not believed; to truly believe them would be to court disaster sooner or later. He knew full well that Princess Anren’s current predicament today was inextricably linked to him.
"What...?"
Song Miyao looked up in astonishment at Emperor Tiande on the nine-tiered dais.
Although she did not consider Xu Xing an ordinary, mediocre man—a Founding Emperor capable of overthrowing a dynasty was undoubtedly one of the world’s most formidable men—Xu Xing’s words today still caught her somewhat off guard.
If his intention was to defile her, why would he humiliate her so? Would he not even leave her the slightest shred of dignity?
"Does Your Majesty know...?" Song Miyao pursed her lips. "My Royal Father had me marry Li Xiaozu. Before the wedding, I had never even seen Li Xiaozu’s face; I had only seen portraits of him painted by the palace artists."
As she spoke, a sob crept into her voice. "If Royal Father truly cherished Anren, how could he have forced her to marry so far away, beyond the passes? This so-called imperial favor—was it truly favor for Anren?"
"Since ancient times, there has been no true affection within the Royal Family."
"No amount of imperial favor could outweigh the Imperial Court’s great worry—Li Liang..."
In March or April of this year, she was forced to enter Shenjing as a hostage. At that time, she still harbored hopes of using her beauty to seduce Xu Xing, thereby bringing great humiliation upon King Zhenbei Li Liang. Then, the two armies would clash, and she would avenge her Royal Father. But a few days ago, after Li Xiaozu slapped her, she completely sobered up to reality.
Be it Li Xiaozu, Emperor Chongming, Li Liang, or any of them, they were all, through and through, political animals. Otherwise, when Shenjing City fell, why would Emperor Chongming have slaughtered his own children and concubines? It was for no other reason than his fear that if the princesses and concubines fell into the hands of the Righteous Army, it would tarnish his posthumous reputation. Reputation and power—these were more important than the lives of his own children. Such were Emperor Chongming’s thoughts!
"Being born into the Heavenly Family doesn’t necessarily bring happiness."
Zhao Yunniang sighed at this.
But that was all it was—just a sigh from her.
Since childhood, she had drifted from place to place, eventually sold to Wangyue Building. Because she possessed considerable beauty and a good figure, Wangyue Building hadn’t made her receive guests. Instead, they had cultivated her as an untouched courtesan, skilled in the arts, intending to make a substantial profit from her eventual debut. Later, she was bought by Taipu Han Sui and brought into his home, prepared as a gift to curry favor with officials at Court...
She, a pitiful woman herself, was countless times more wretched than Song Miyao. What right did she have to sympathize with this Deceased Country Princess?
"The boons of an Emperor," Xu Xing said, shaking his head as he observed her, "can strip a person of even the courage to refuse."
He wasn’t some soft-hearted do-gooder. Though Song Miyao’s words had stirred some emotion in him, he didn’t feel much sympathy. Indeed, just as Princess Anren had said, the ’favor’ bestowed by superiors upon their subordinates was not necessarily a good thing.